1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to systems and methods for growing plants, including stationary and/or portable systems for hydro-cultural growing of plants in aeroponic and hydroponic environments.
2. Prior Art
The term “aeroponics” refers to the growing of plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or another aggregate medium. The basic principle of aeroponic growing is to suspend plants on a plant support structure and grow the suspended plants in a closed or semi-closed environment by spraying the plant's dangling roots and lower stem with, nutrient-rich water solution. The leaves and crown of the plant, often called the canopy, extend above the plant support structure and the roots of the plant extend below the plant support structure. Ideally, the environment is kept free from pests and disease so that the plants may grow healthier and more quickly than plants grown in a medium.
Various aeroponic and hydroponic growing systems and methods are known in the prior art. With regard to aeroponic systems, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,533,992 and 8,782,948 describe aeroponic systems that exemplify the prior art. The term “hydroponic” refers to the growing of plants using mineral nutrient solutions, typically in water, without soil. Plants may be grown with their roots directly exposed to the mineral solution only, or exposed to solution combined with an inert medium, such as perlite, rock wool or gravel, volcanic rocks and the like.
Aeroponic and hydroponic techniques have proved very successful in carefully controlled laboratory environments, for example, in environments relating to the study of plant physiology. However, due to challenges in the art, aeroponic and hydroponic techniques have yet to be considered feasible for mainstream production of crops or for adaptation on a wide, commercial scale. Moreover, such systems do not provide for the control and management of different sections of a single plant, which in turn provides for more effective control of productivity and growth efficiency relating to single plants and therefore crops overall. Still further, such prior art systems are typically stationary and not amenable to portability and the advantages that derive from portability, including new market models for growing, distribution and selling of a given crop or plant product.
Challenges in the relevant art include providing scalable growing systems that may be readily adapted to the requirements of different plants and which may provide for increased control and management of a single plant and therefore increase the production (yield), improve the product assortment available from plants, and increase the useful productive life of plants.
Other challenges in the relevant art include providing growing systems that are efficient and productive such that the energy costs associated with operation are justified by the output produced.
Yet another challenge in the art is to provide systems that offer diverse and highly tailored control over plant growth and which are easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, install, operate and maintain.